What's The Difference Between FSC Certified and
Recycled Paper and Which is Better to Use?
I’ve been asked this question hundreds of times, so here's the answer:
FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council. They are a third party certification organization who assess those who manage the care of forests. They look at how those managing the care of a forest are complying with federal law and international agreements relating to the rights of indigenous peoples, enhancing the long-term social and economic well being of workers and surrounding communities, and conserving the biological diversity, water, soil and ecosystems surrounding the forest. The FSC also requires a management plan. It must describe the scale and intensity of logging and renewal operations as well as the long-term objectives and monitoring of the forest, making sure that what is cut down is being replanted. If all the criteria of the FSC are met by the management of the forest, then the forest will receive an FSC Certification. Paper made from wood taken from FSC certified trees is given the FSC Certification as well. FSC Certified paper does NOT have anything to do with the paper being recycled, but that it was derived from trees from a well managed forest.
Recycled paper is made from either 100% discarded (post-consumer) paper, or a mix of post-consumer and pre-consumer paper (paper that is discarded during the paper-making process, but never gets used by consumers), or a mix of post-consumer and either FSC Certified or just regular, non certified paper.
So which one is better? There is a lot of debate about this in the paper industry. Paper made directly from trees still requires the trees be cut down, (although they are replanted). Large tractors and logging machinery are used, adding pollution and noise to the surrounding environments, as well as chemicals and water waste used in the paper-making process. On the other hand, chemicals are still used in the making of recycled paper, because the fibers have to be broken down and de-inked (although most recycled papers no longer use toxic bleach in the de-inking process). I always use recycled paper. Although both types unfortunately use chemicals in the process, you are at least not adding to the landfills or harming ecosystems during the logging process. I encourage everyone to use recycled paper, even if it is only 30% or 50% recycled. If you choose to use non-recycled paper, make sure it is FSC Certified. At least you can feel confident that the wood was harvested with the utmost care and concern for the forest and its surrounding ecosystem.
Why Soy Ink Is Better Than Conventional Ink
“Conventional” ink is petroleum based and uses a mixture of water, resins, pigments, and a variety of metals such as barium, copper and zinc. The water waste from the printing press, even when properly disposed of, can leach these toxic metals into the soil and groundwater. Heavy amounts of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) are also released during the printing process when using petroleum based inks. VOC’s are a primary cause of headaches and dizziness among printing company employees.
Soy ink is made from soybean oil, pigments, resins and waxes and does not contain all of the heavy metals that petroleum based ink has. During the printing process, a significantly smaller amount of VOC’s are released.
Another benefit of soy based inks is that they produce brighter colors. This is due to the ink's lighter consistency, which allows it to lay on the paper differently than do petroleum based inks. Soy based ink also degrades nearly twice as fast as petroleum based ink, making it easier to de-ink paper during the paper recycling process.
Soy based ink is also great for printing full color stationery, as the heating point is much greater than petroleum based ink. What this means is that when you run your stationery printed with soy ink through either your color or black and white laser printer, there is less of a chance that the colors on your stationery will run, fade, or ruin your laser printer by coming off on the rollers. I learned the hard way.
As with all of our blogs, we like to offer both sides of the eco-picture. We at Green Graphics and Printing DO prefer soy ink over petroleum ink. No one in our shop ever gets headaches and we are not leaching toxic fumes and metals into the earth. However, we are also very aware of the fact that only 33% of the soybeans produced in 2008 came from the U.S. Many acres of forest and rainforest in other countries are being cut down in order to provide room for soy bean growing farms, so we are always on the lookout for a product that will be a 100% win for the environment.
Color Shifting on Printed materials
Have you ever had a set of business cards printed, and then a year later go back to the same exact printer with the same exact file and your next set of cards are a slightly different color?
If you are printing in full color this will most likely occur every time you go to print. The reason for this is that almost all full color printers create what is called a “gang run.” A printing press runs large sheets of paper, so instead of running one order of business cards, which would cost the customer hundreds of dollars, printers place 30-40 different business card orders on a single sheet of paper. This method significantly reduces the cost for each customer.
The two drawbacks of gang run printing are that the customer has only a few paper stocks to choose from, and the colors may shift!
Take a look at the example below. Printers match up the business card colors that are similar in hue and put them together as best they can. In Example One, the green card highlighted is placed under another green card going to print. In Example Two, the same card printed a year later is placed under a blue card, instead of a more similarly colored green card. When printed, Example One will print out very consistently with the colors that are on the file. What you see on the screen is likely to be what you see in print. Example Two, however, may come out with a slightly bluer shade of green. To take the example further, the third time this same card is printed, perhaps the green card will fall near a solid pink card, giving this new run a green that is slightly mottled in hue.
Most full color printers have an allowance of up to a 5% color shift on any of the 4 colors that make up the printing color spectrum: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.
The benefit of full-color printing is that it is inexpensive, and you can have as many different colors as you want in your printed materials. If you are very picky about the colors on your materials, you will not want to use a gang-run full-color printer. You will want to either run on a one or two color press using Pantone colors, or find a printer who will print your card only on a solo run. Just know that the price is going to be significantly higher.
